Vita Brevis
by claudiastar
Summary: A conversation overheard down by the Hogwarts lake and recorded by your faithful author. Takes place shortly after Tonks' hospital wing outburst. Please review


Discalimer: I don't own Harry Potter. And to my eternal sadness, this is an entirely non profit exercise

Author's note: Yes it's fluffy! So! I like Fluff! Enjoy and please review

_Vita Brevis_

Tonks found him sitting hunched over on the grass by the lake. It was raining. The whole world seemed to have turned grey: the sky, the angry water of the lake in front of them, the high forbidding walls of the castle stretching up behind her, his eyes, even the miserable brown of her hair looked faded- all the colour seemed to have been washed away, like clothes run too many times through the laundry. He had pulled his patched cloak tightly around himself for warmth. The grass was damp as she sat down beside him, damp and soft and slippery. For a long time she couldn't look at him. She just stared out at the lake, and let the rain slick her hair down close against her head. She felt the tickle of a raindrop as it ran colddown her ear. She shivered. The silence seemed to grow and take on a life of its own.

He was the one who spoke first. His thin bony hands clenched and twisted over each other. It hurt her to see how thin he had become, and there was more grey in his hair than there had been- grey again. It almost made her want to laugh.

"Dora," he began, and his voice was stiff and choked "There's so much you don't know about me, so much you'd lose if…" he trailed off uselessly.

She gave a groan and let her head drop into her hands, exhausted. "Please Remus, how many times have I told you, how many times have we been through this- I love you, that's all that matters to me, all I want. I don't give a damn about what I'd lose. I thought you felt the same way, but…" her voice was faded and thin, grey.

His head sprung up when she said that, eyes burning "I do, you know I do, Dora, you have to believe that! I love you!" he burst out in a rush, he seemed to have turned even more pale than before.

She sighed wearily. "I do know it, I do know that really. God! I'm so tired of this; I'm so tired of arguing in circles with you."

"If things were different…"he said in a small voice "You know I'd"

She gave him a thin smile "But they aren't different so what's the point? I've missed you this year." She reached out and took his hand. He didn't push her away.

"I've missed you too Dora. This year, I've done…I've seen…That's partly why…I wanted to keep you away from all that Dora." He said hesitantly, his voice cracking a little, looking at her intently from under a curtain of faded brown hair.

"Being a Werewolf doesn't make you a bad person Remus. You know that."

"I'm trying to protect you!" he burst out violently, pulling her towards him roughly "Dumbledore's dead. Dora, I don't think I could bear it if, if next time it was you. Life just seems, so short."

There was a long pause; she stared at him steadily out her huge brown eyes, choosing what to say next very carefully. "You're right Remus, this is a war, people are dying and that's horrible, and life is damn short. But don't you see, that just means we have to hold to each other all the more tightly. We might not have much time, so we better damn well use what we've got. Life is short Remus- but that's no excuse not to live it" her voice was steady, but passionate and intense. Rain was running in rivulets down her cheeks, mixing with the blood and dust and tears of the fight with the death eaters up at the castle.

"You really think that spending your life with me would be the best use you could make of it?" he asked with a kind of bitter incredulity lacing his voice, sardonic lines breaking out all over his face.

"Yes!" she growled at him furiously "Yes I do! I would be spending it with the man I love (and I do love you, however hard that might be for you to believe). I think that's the best use anyone can make of their life."

His face seemed to soften; a kind of bewildered hope came into his eyes. He smiled at her. It was the first smile she's seen from him in a very long time. She smiled too, it was infectious. She felt a little bubble of happiness bursting up inside of her.

"You do love me don't you!" he amazed "You mean, you really want…but _why?"_

"Why do I love you? Honestly? I have absolutely no Idea. I don't think you're supposed to know, it's not supposed to make sense." She smiled at the simple ridiculousness of it all, she felt like laughing.

"What do we do now?" he asked her quietly. "What happens now?"

"I don't know, but you could start by kissing me."

He grinned and pulled her closer to him wrapping her in his too thin cloak as he said softly "Sounds as good a beginning as any!"

She laughed, well giggled actually and drank in his warmth, then they were kissing, he pushed her wet brown back from her face. They broke apart at last.

"There's something I have to know Dora," he said, suddenly hesitant again.

"What?" she asked, curiously.

"The hair, was it because of me?"

She frowned, and thought for a moment then said "Partly- partly because of you, partly because of everything, the war, Sirius, everything."

He nodded "I'm glad, I'm glad it wasn't _entirely _my fault." He said gently "It's been killing me, thinking that I've been hurting you."

"I'm just glad you've come to your senses at last!" She told him sharply

"So am I Dora, so am I!" he was eager to assure, then he was pulling towards him, back into a kiss.

She gave a sudden laugh "I've just had a thought, It's really _Fleur _who's prompted all of this, isn't that strange!"

He grinned. "You must remind me to thank her later Dora!" It's difficult to laugh when you're kissing. Tonks found that out down there by the lake.

The Sun seemed suddenly to be at least trying to shine, because a glorious, wide arched, glistening rainbow had flashed across the sky. Suddenly things seemed anything but grey. With a small glow of satisfaction Tonks became aware that if she tried to change her hair it would work. She screwed up her face in concentration, and was wearing a wild, curly, multicoloured, waist length tangle of hair. It looked like therainbow.She wanted to get as far away from grey as possible. They sat very close together now.

She pointed up at the bright arc in the sky. "Where do you think it leads?" she asked softly

"To our personal pot of gold of course!" he joked

"I think we've already found that" she whispered into his hair.

"Dora," He said quietly

"Yes Remus?" she replied gently.

"Why is that now, with you, I feel like we have all the time in the world?"

She smiled "because we do. That's the secret Remus, Life is short, but love lasts for ever."

"Now that's just corny!" he told her with a grin.

For a long time they sat in silence, side by side, hands touching. There was no need to talk any more. They had eternity after all.

**The End**


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